2013's Biggest Stories: 10 - Iroquois Controversy

Inside Lacrosse is counting down the Top 10 stories of 2013. Coming in at No. 10, is the Iroquois Nationals' 2014 FIL World Games competition controversy.

When the division alignments were released for the 2014 FIL World Championships in Denver, many were shocked to see the Iroquois Nationals not included in the Blue Division, which is the elite division featuring USA and Canada. FIL rules dictated that division alignments be seeded by the last tournament's finish, and because of the Iroquois' absence in 2010, the FIL rules dictated they could not compete in the Blue Division.

Public outcry led to an FIL ballot that would allow the organization to redraft its criteria for seeding. This vote paved the way for the Iroquois to rejoin the Blue Division.

But the final resolution for the 2014 FIL World Championships has not yet happened. The vote proposed the Iroquois replace the Germans, who substituted for the Iroquois in the 2010 Blue Division and finished sixth in the tournament; the Germans would then be placed in a lower group — news that does not sit well with the Germans.

As for the Germans' plans, “We can consider all options,” says Tim Gruenke the German Lacrosse Association representative, referring to either appealing to Sport Accord for mediation or foregoing the Games altogether, adding “we'd rather not start discussing that in public." However, Gruenke was pointed in what the pending decision could mean to him personally.

“If we're kicked out Blue Division," he said, "I'll be out of the game for the rest of my life.”

Check back to InsideLacrosse.com for resolution on the division alignment at the 2014 FIL World Championships. Below, Casey Vock shares a look at the Iroquois team, and how Jeremy Thompson is poised to be the team's leader. The story can also be found in the October issue of Inside Lacrosse magazine, available digitally.

LOOKING AHEAD

By Casey Vock

Jeremy Thompson carries bittersweet memories of the passport dilemma that kept the Iroquois Nationals out of the 2010 FIL World Lacrosse Championships in Manchester, England. He remains proud of the Iroquois’ decision to boycott the tournament, firmly believing the team should have been allowed to travel abroad with traditional passports. But the disappointment of not competing on the world stage lingers.

“It was a point that we were trying to make as a people and a confederacy,” says Thompson, who was one of the youngest members of the Iroquois Nationals team at the 2006 World Championships in London, Ont.

In 2010, Thompson was poised to be one of the team’s leaders, a player who could fill multiple roles and help instill a winning attitude. He now views the widely publicized debacle as just a bump in the road, a hurdle the Iroquois had to overcome. In the process, he says, they became better people. But he also sees the memory of the situation lighting a fire in the players working to make the roster for the 2014 games in Denver, himself included.

“I think we’ll have more drive from not participating in 2010,” he says. “I can only come to think it’s all about how you overcome those things and persevere through hard times. I’m glad we came together as a people and were able to do that. … As an athlete and as a player, you want to compete at the highest level.”

Thompson has lived by those words since 2010. He finished his college career at Syracuse, where he was the Orange’s leading midfield scorer as a senior in 2011, and has gone on to excel in MLL, the NLL and on box teams for different Native reservations.

Thompson is expected to be the backbone of the 2014 Iroquois Nationals’ midfield. A 5-11, 195-pound two-way threat who can also face off, Thompson has developed into a world-class athlete, one who continues to train his body and hone his game. With the Edmonton Rush in 2013, he finished fifth in the NLL with 131 looseballs, placing him among the ranks of stars like Geoff Snider, Jordan MacIntosh, Kyle Rubisch and Brodie Merrill.

Deeply involved in spirituality and active in his community, Thompson’s continued to play box in the summers in tandem with his MLL responsibilities and now has two President’s Cup wins, most recently in 2011 with the St. Regis Braves alongside the eldest of his three younger brothers, Jerome Jr. This summer, he and his three brothers joined the Caughnawaga Indians of the Iroquois Lacrosse Association — a possible preview of all four Thompson brothers playing for the Iroquois Nationals — and looked at press time like favorites for another Senior B championship.

But the oldest Thompson brother’s résumé, his athleticism and lacrosse IQ project him as one of only a few probable locks for the roster.

“Jeremy’s going to be our best combination of ability and experience out of this group,” says Cortland coach Steve Beville, who led the Iroquois to the bronze at the 2012 U-19 championship and will take the helm of the senior team’s coaching staff in 2014.

“We’re definitely looking for him to be a leader through this whole process, right from the day of the first tryout to when we play the games. He’s obviously a very dynamic player between the lines. He’s proven himself at the highest levels and we’re counting on him to be that guy, the vocal leader and the leader on the field with his play. He’s very unselfish. We can’t ask for a better guy to be someone that you can build the core of these midfield units around.”

The U-19 bronze medal in 2012 foreshadowed the potential makeup of the men’s Iroquois Nationals squad in 2014. Fast, smooth, versatile and wielding phenomenal stick skills, the Iroquois midfield in Denver next year will most certainly be a merger of athleticism and ability never before seen on this squad, with Jeremy Thompson leading the way as the centerpiece.

While Thompson brings more to the table than any of the other candidates, his cousin Brett Bucktooth is another strong candidate who brings experience from numerous World Games in both box and field. Other notable players who have résumés as impressive as Thompson’s, but perhaps just lesser known in field lacrosse, are likely to bolster the unit. Jeff Shattler, the NLL MVP and Transition Player of the Year in 2011, and Craig Point, the 2008 NLL Rookie of the Year, could slide into midfield roles for the Nationals as returnees from 2010’s roster.

But with only so many proven veterans to rely on — significantly fewer than the U.S. and Canada, which have much larger player pools from which to draw — Beville expects the 2014 roster to include many young players who he says are mature enough to compete against more seasoned competition. Many of those players, Beville points out, have been competing against older, bigger, stronger players on their home reservations since they were in their early teens, since it’s common for box players that age to take the floor with grown men.

“The nice thing is that these guys have been banging against the older guys their whole lives, so that will help us,” he says, adding that the Iroquois Nationals program will be shaped for years to come by key players from the 2012 U-19 squad. “There are certainly a number of guys who played on the U-19 team that we see as the future of the program. We really like them as the type of players they are on and off the field. We’ve got some great kids — some character guys — in that group that are the future of the program.”

The 2012 U-19 Most Outstanding Midfielder, a 2013 Tewaaraton finalist and arguably the best returning player in college lacrosse next season, Lyle Thompson could likely be used as a midfielder in tandem with his brother, and possibly his brother Jerome Jr., who made the roster in 2010.

Another young middie in the mix could be Denver-bound Zach Miller, who also starred last summer in England. Other standouts from that squad and the tryouts — players like Zed Williams, Six Nations stars Randy Staats, Johnny Powless, Vaughn Harris and a young Brendan Bomberry — could help solidify the 2014 Iroquois Nationals midfield.
There’s little doubt the Iroquois midfield will be as gifted offensively as any team in the tournament. The big question mark for the Nationals will be defense, including the longstick and shortstick D-midfield positions. For that reason, the staff will carefully pursue midfielders who can be successful in more than one role.

“When we’re choosing guys, obviously the ability to adapt to either the midfield or attack will be critical for us,” Beville says. “All these guys transition from the box to the field. Most have played both midfield and attack throughout their careers, and I think that’s something we definitely want to tap into.”

The staff will likely give rising indoor star Alex Kedoh-Hill and wiry, aggressive veteran Tom Montour a look with the longpole, while Six Nations Arrows defender Tyson Bomberry, who shined at U-19s, will get a look as well.

But with limited options, Beville says a major focus will be finding players who will step up and fill specialty roles. He says the staff plans to cultivate new defensive talent over the coming year.

“It’s going to be important to get some of the more experienced guys to get a pole in their hand as soon as possible so they have a year of training,” Beville says. “If nothing else, our defensemen will be able to handle [the ball] with the best of them, and I think that transition from defense to offense could be even more dynamic by doing that — even though we might lose a little bit defensively. But I think that also gives us a lot more opportunity to have offensive-minded defensemen in the transition game.”

We'll be counting down the Top 10 stories through December. Check back each day for more on InsideLacrosse.com.